Inkling Secures Major Investment from Top Education Companies McGraw-Hill and Pearson

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inkling, creators of the new standard for interactive learning on iPad, secured significant minority investments from McGraw-Hill and Pearson, the two largest educational content providers in the world. Current investors Sequoia Capital, Felicis Ventures, Kapor Capital, and Sherpalo Ventures also participated in the multi-million dollar financing.

“The renowned publishers Inkling counts as partners validate their model. We are thrilled to be a part of their continued market expansion.”

The investment signals a major endorsement from the publishing industry for the Inkling platform as a leader in the rapid shift to digital textbooks. The round also comes on the heels of commitments by both publishers to build interactive editions of their top titles for the Inkling platform. Inkling also works with a long list of other higher education publishers, including John Wiley & Sons, W. W. Norton and Wolters Kluwer, as well as major trade publishers.

"Until now, digital textbooks have failed to gain real traction because they add little value over the printed book,” said Matt MacInnis, Inkling's Founder and CEO. "But Inkling is different. We build every textbook from the ground up for iPad to create a more engaging learning experience. We’re thrilled that McGraw-Hill and Pearson are bringing the world’s best learning content to the Inkling platform."

"Creating an interactive, higher-value eBook experience for students is central to our strategy at McGraw-Hill,” said Vineet Madan, vice president, McGraw-Hill Learning Ecosystems. “We are excited to deepen our relationship with Inkling as we seek to broaden the educational tools and content available on iPad and other mobile devices."

“Inkling gives us a chance to introduce 'from scratch' interactivity into the educational experience," said Gary June, Chief Global Marketing Officer at Pearson. “This is a critical part of our efforts to leverage next generation devices in new ways that will improve performance and retention.”

Textbooks on Inkling’s platform are built from the ground up for multi-touch devices like iPad, bringing a level of engagement and learning that’s impossible with flat reproductions of print books. Students love the rich interactivity, self quizzes, easy search and annotation tools, and the ability to buy by the chapter, saving them money. Professors like that Inkling textbooks drive better student engagement and achievement without requiring any change in instruction. Plus, social collaboration among students and between professor and student opens doors to entirely new ways to learn.

Today, Inkling is partnering with top publishers to produce their most popular textbooks spanning business school, medical school, and undergraduate curricula for 2011. Content commitments now include:

The top 100 undergraduate titles from McGraw-Hill Higher Education
A comprehensive MBA curriculum, featuring 24 of the most popular business titles, from Pearson Education
A full line of medical textbooks, featuring Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, an imprint of Wolters Kluwer Health
Top undergraduate arts and sciences titles from Pearson Education
Top medical education and reference content from McGraw-Hill Professional

“The Inkling team is poised to lead digital education by bringing interactivity to the timeless content of the textbook,” said Aydin Senkut, founder and managing director, Felicis Ventures. “The renowned publishers Inkling counts as partners validate their model. We are thrilled to be a part of their continued market expansion.”

“This partnership with McGraw-Hill and Pearson secures Inkling’s leadership position as a platform for learning content,” said Bryan Schreier, Partner at Sequoia Capital. “It ensures access to the market’s very best textbook titles, making adoption of iPad as a learning tool even more attractive to colleges and universities.”

About Inkling

Inkling was founded in late 2009 with a vision for the future of learning. For us, it begins with a better textbook—dynamic, more engaging, and taking full advantage of a new generation of mobile devices. But we aren’t just reinventing the textbook. Look between the lines, and you’ll see a revolution in publishing - a new platform for creating, distributing and consuming truly engaging learning content. Inkling is backed by Sequoia Capital, and based in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.inkling.com.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education is a premier provider of teaching and learning solutions for 21st century post-secondary and education markets worldwide. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital education content and tools, McGraw-Hill Education empowers educators and prepares professionals and students of all ages to connect, learn and succeed in the global economy. McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.

About Pearson

Pearson, the world's leading learning company, has global-reach and market leading businesses in education, business and consumer publishing (NYSE: PSO).

For press inquiries please contact Susan Aspey at susan.aspey@pearson.com

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6657085&lang=en